Quality Assurance Guidelines

Proofing Pages

Typographical errors and broken links harm the credibility of any website. All new and edited pages destined for the Internet site need to be checked by the department, prior to going live, and should be reviewed regularly. Pages should be checked on the development server by the person preparing the page and by someone in the branch where the content originates. A minimum list for testing includes:

• Check for broken links and images. A linkbot report that identifies all broken links that are not working, can be requested by filling in a work order request form and e-mail to ManWeb (workorder@gov.mb.ca)
• Check for spelling mistakes and contextual errors. CSM assistance is available for editing or revising text. Contact webeditor@gov.mb.ca.
• Refer to the Publications Style Guide for assistance with writing or proofreading/editing. For more information, contact CSM at webeditor@gov.mb.ca.
• Test pages for compliance with the World Wide Web Consortium's Priority One and Two standards for accessibility. Use the Bobby tool (http://bobby.watchfire.com) to test for compliance.
• If appropriate for your audience, view pages in recent versions of standard browsers. Refer to the ICT Standards for common browsers.

Development Server

The development server is to be used to view pages prior to going live. It is not intended as a workspace. Proper maintenance is required, including deletion of unused and dated files. Please contact webmaster@gov.mb.ca to set up a dev account.

Access to the development server will not be granted to web developers or organizations outside the government of Manitoba.

Consult the Enterprise Architecture's ICT Standards for acceptable web editing tools.

Pages should also be checked regularly for stale-dated information. Information that is no longer current or accurate should be removed.